2 Kings 6:5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!" The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. "Lift it out," he said.
The motivation behind this story is in verse 1: “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small…”.
God’s goal for your life is enlargement.
To fulfill His purposes we must be enlarged in all areas of life. The motivation to become bigger people comes from God. We shouldn’t try to suppress this desire – it’s a part of becoming more like Jesus. In Genesis 1:28, God blessed Adam saying “have dominion and rule over the entire world”. To suppress the desire to grow and rule is to go directly against the purposes of God.
The young prophets in this story wanted to build a bigger place for the Lord, so they went down to the Jordan river where there were plenty of trees with which to build God’s House. But then it reveals that one of the young prophets lost his “ax head”. And he cries out to Elisha, “it was borrowed”.
The first message that comes to my mind here is “Stewardship”.
Everything in your life is “Borrowed”. It has been given to you by the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 9:10) and we will all one day reveal to Jesus what we did with it. (“Parable of the Talents” - Matthew 25:15-28).
But a second, powerful message about this story is God the “Redeemer”.
Like the young prophet who lost his ax head, we too can lose things – whether it’s because we didn’t use something we were given or whether we incurred losses on a transaction or relationship. But this story reveals that God is a Redeeming God. He can restore everything and anything in your life that has been lost.
Look at what God tells the prophet to do in order to restore that which has been lost…
Verse 6 Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.
The “Stick” here is a picture of the “Cross”. The Cross is an eternal reminder of the redeeming power of God. On that wooden cross, Jesus redeemed humanity from what was lost – a relationship with God.
What do you need restored in your life? Financial losses; lost opportunities; lost time with your kids; the inability to have a child… whatever “it” is, God can restore and recover all. He can give you new opportunities; reconcile relationships; give you a miracle child.
“But how, what do I need to do?” you ask. It’s not about “doing”, it’s about “looking”. Look to Jesus upon the cross. Don't just glance at Him, look. Look again and again and again – Little looking produces little faith. Big looking produces big faith.